Overcoming fear: It’s all part of running a business and life.

Jason Cohen column.

By Jason Cohen

Date published: 6/29/2009

My business is really simple when broken down to its two basic functions. Find the business then perform the service. Sure there are a lot of other details such as accounting, finance, production, inventory, project management, information technology and human resources.

Between me and employees we manage all of the aspects of running the business, but our emotions are the toughest to manage. Fear in particular has a certain grip on the human psyche that at best keeps us out of trouble and at worst can completely disable us.

On a recent trip I read, “The Survivors Club: The Secrets and Science that Could Save Your Life” by Ben Sherwood. It has several chapters on airplane crashes, so not exactly what you want to be reading on a long flight. The book details three types of people that face a tragedy: Fatalities, Victims and Survivors. Granted these are people facing life or death situations not usually associated with business concerns. Fatalities are people that did not have a chance of living. Think 9/11 plane passengers. There are business fatalities such as JEHT Foundation losing their funding because several of their major donors had invested with Bernie Madoff. No matter what these people did, death was a certainty. Survivors are those who managed to live despite untenable odds. Survivors are people through their own actions or thoughts allowed them to live. History is full of people who overcame great odds to survive unspeakable conditions such as the Holocaust or POW captives. Finally, victims have a chance for survival, but through mistakes or worse in-action died.

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Date published: 6/29/2009